Jerked Under
by Takoon
Summary: In a forgotten city surrounded by wasteland, divided into the rich and poor, and ruled by the gangs who wage often deadly "wars" upon each other, there are several people who are different from the rest. These are the scenes that make up their normal life
1. Confession

Jerked Under  
  
I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.  
  
**_Start Scene One: Confession  
_**  
She had never really noticed it before, but he had a musical voice, one that rose and fell in each sentence. It even sounded a bit like a girl's, if you thought about it. But it just added to his whole allure, and gave his enemies all the more of a shock when he beat the crap out of them, to put it bluntly. It was hard to believe that this guy who looked so much like a delicate young lady, with his long, luxurious red hair, gentle lavender eyes, sharp nose, slender physique, and delicate, pale, high-boned features, was the terror of the numerous gangs that roamed the streets.  
  
Rumors said that he had once killed someone, but she personally knew it not to be true and nobody had ever come forth with proof. He had come close to doing it, though, when his girlfriend left him for another gang (or more accurately, one of its members). And, naturally, it was his main rival: The Juppongattana. What ticked him off even more was that she didn't even hook up with their leader; instead, she chose one of the grunt work people. It was a major insult to his pride, and he took off after the gang member, threatening to give him a beating, beginning to make good on his promise, and stopping only when Tomoe begged him to. She even offered to come back, but he severed all ties with her then and there, his message a whiplash that cut deeper with every word, telling her to do her best never to come within his eyesight again.  
  
Kaoru had been there for him, but he had grown distanced from her since then, hurting them both unconsciously. She was his best friend, his confidant, and removing himself from the last true link he had with another person pronounced his feelings of loneliness more than any other time in his life. And now, she had finally cornered him here, in his apartment, and was forcing him to confess. Not anything in particular, but just to ask him why he had been the equivalent of a mother grizzly bear in accepting any company at all lately. He was pacing in front of her, his voice a controlled rant, enjoying actually being able to release all the pent up rage.  
  
"...and yes, I know I was wrong for attacking him, it's entirely my fault, but she actually said she would come back and it pissed me off even more."  
  
Kaoru nodded, understanding. If she had been anyone else, his language would have been much harsher, but he always toned it down around her. Constant use of profanity irritated her, and she had informed him of that years ago.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me any of this, Kenshin? I could have helped somehow."  
  
He grinned at her, a little sheepishly. "I didn't want to get you involved in any way. The gang wars around here can get pretty serious, believe it or not. I couldn't allow myself to cause you to get hurt."  
  
"Even though you know perfectly well that I practice kendo and carry around a bokken whenever I'm in your area?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Why, then? I'm capable of protecting myself."  
  
"For one..." he sighed, stopping in front of a window and pressing his forehead against the cool glass for a second. "You're more important than just a girlfriend. I know you can protect yourself, but there are a lot of people in some of these gangs, and the only one I have friendly relations to has five people in it. If six, seven of them surrounded you, you could most likely fight them off, but it depends on how good at fighting they are. But eight, nine ten – numbers do count. They could capture you, hurt you, use you to hurt me, and I'm not allowing that to happen, ever."  
  
She stood and walked over next to him, placing her hand near his on the windowsill. "But what about you? It sounds like you've had experience with that type of thing – don't they corner you alone?"  
  
"Just once."  
  
"And?"  
  
He grinned, something like pride faintly filtering into his voice. "They know not to do it again."  
  
**_End Scene One_**  
  
Okay, this is my latest and perhaps favorite story ever. It is not going to really be a continuous, connected story – more like a series of scenes that show what the character's lives are like in this. Different, but I've wanted to do it for a while. This chapter is probably going to be the shortest of them all. More info on the setting is that it's close to post-apocalyptic. Years after nuclear war that almost ended all life except cockroaches.   
  
As a note...  
  
This is my last post for at least two weeks. I'm off to writing camp on Sunday, so I should get a chapter or two done there, but probably won't be able to post it, just write in my notebook...  
  
Domo arigatou for reading!  
  
matthias208  
  
I know that sentence where I describe Kenshin is a little long, but I see it more as a list, anyway.


	2. Kitsune

**Jerked Under**

I do not own _Rurouni Kenshin._

**_Start Scene Two: Kitsune  
_**  
There were three things in this world that could piss Kenshin Himura off besides injustice. In order from least to most effective, here they are:  
  
3. Telling him he looked like a girl.  
  
Obvious. Despite that this was a fact and he knew it as well as everyone else on Earth, it still annoyed him, and it was best not mentioned.  
  
2. Bringing up something about Tomoe or Akira.  
  
Very reasonable. The hate he felt for Akira and Tomoe was frightening, despite how brief the relationship had been. Kenshin had pride, and anything or anyone standing in its way was in store for a major ass- whupping.  
  
But the worst one, the only thing that could turn him blind with rage and attack the offender with teeth and nails (if need be), the one thing that made him so angry that it would give him a burst of strength at the end of his rope, was this:  
  
1. Insulting Kaoru or degrading her in even the smallest way, as she was nothing less than a saint in his eyes.  
  
This last and most sacred straw that always broke the camel's back was put down by Hoji, second in command of the Juppongattana, yet not the brightest crayon in the box. He had ended up in this prestigious position by alternately sucking up to Shishio and showering the gang with money from his parents. His services as a spy were also somewhat effective, yes (especially among adults – his appearance was more civilized than anyone else's on the streets), but these were the main two factors.  
  
Hoji's house was closest to the borderline between Kenshin and Shishio's territory, so he was most often sent out to scout around the area, along with Chou. But, one fateful day, he ran into Kenshin making a simple patrol. Consequently, it was also the last time he considered doing anything of the sort.  
  
Kenshin saw him first, coming around an alley corner littered with old cardboard boxes and rusty trash cans. The buildings that unintentionally created the alley gave it high, adobe-tinted walls as well as an Old West feel to any showdowns that occurred, with the clay dust colors.  
  
Sliding back out of sight, he waited for a few seconds before stepping out into full view, not bothering to call out as he waited for Hoji to notice him. It didn't take long; Kenshin stood out like fire against snow.  
  
"What are you doing here, Hoji?"  
  
His tone wasn't hostile at the moment, almost amiable. Hoji relaxed from freezing up (he was terrified of being left alone with such a person without Chou, who had gone off in another direction).  
  
"What does it look like? I'm just checking out the area for Shishio. We could take it at any time, you know." He tried to be authoritative, assertive, to protect himself with words long enough to run back to his master with the figurative tail between his legs.  
  
"I really, really doubt that. Remember the last time you all cornered me? It didn't turn out so well. Get off my land, jackass."  
  
Hoji turned his back and prepared to do just that, trying to ignore the shivering that was racing through his spine. But, as many of the slightly denser people of the population also feel, he just had to get the last word in this verbal battle before leaving. As it has been expressly stressed, not smart.  
  
"Ah, go fuck your little raccoon."  
  
And thus 'twas breached.  
  
Chou and Kaoru, both at the perimeter of a three-block radius to where both Kenshin and Hoji were, heard the inhuman scream from their locations. Chou thought it was an animal being tortured; Kaoru somehow recognized it for who it was and headed straight for the source. She came to the scene and stopped, appalled, frightened, and thoroughly shocked at what she saw.  
  
Kenshin had flipped, and was now attacking Hoji with his hands, knees, elbows, feet – any body part that came in use to hurt and generally cause damage. He was, really, almost an animal, wanting nothing more than to kill his prey and leave it to rot in the sun. Chou showed up a second later, immediately racing to pull Hoji away while Kaoru tried to work on Kenshin. United in a brief moment, they worked together to loosen Kenshin's death grip, until Chou was able to sling Hoji over his shoulder and hauled ass out of there, back in to their official territory.  
  
Kaoru was left with the suddenly limp form of her best friend, who seemed to have fainted. She removed her bokken from her belt, which was getting to be uncomfortable in her current position. Placing his head in her lap, she checked him over, or at least what she could see. He didn't seem to be injured at all, which was a good sign. Around five minutes went by before he began to show signs of coming to. Resting her hand on his forehead, she leaned over so he would be able to see her. "Hey." She whispered softly.  
  
His eyes opened slowly, confused for a second by where he was, but he still replied. "Hey. What happened?"  
  
"I don't know. You tell me. When I got here, you were attacking some guy and another person helped me drag you two apart, and then you passed out."  
  
"Really?" She felt his brows furrow underneath her palm for a second, then smooth out as he remembered. He sat up, and Kaoru noted that his knuckles were clenched tight. "Yeah. That bastard Hoji-"  
  
"Calm down first, then tell me what happened."  
  
Kenshin took a deep breath and counted to ten before letting it out, closing his eyes and trying to soothe his remaining anger. "Okay." He turned around so he was sitting cross-legged and facing her. "All better. Hoji was sniffing around the edges of my territory for Shishio, and I caught him in the act. I told him to get off, he said something really offensive about you, and you know what happened next."  
  
Kaoru sighed, tugging him forward so their foreheads were touching, both depending on the other to keep their balance. It was an old pose that had been done many times before, and it showed their trust and faith in each other. "You guys are like packs of wolves, you know? Fighting over land that's technically all public property."  
  
Kenshin grinned. "So that would make me a lone wolf?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"And what are you, then?"  
  
She laughed, going along with him. "I'm the kindly human who takes care of the lone wolf. But aren't you more of a fox? I don't think there's a wolf with bright red hair."  
  
"I'll be the first, then."  
  
Kaoru propelled herself forward and tackled him, forcing him flat on his back. Kenshin didn't mind in the least, and he lay under her, making a satisfied sound deep in his throat when she kissed him underneath his chin and tucked her head there. Wrapping his arms around her, they both relaxed and closed their eyes, all worry from the earlier incident forgotten.  
  
"Kaoru, you rox my sox."  
  
She snorted in a very unladylike way, getting up and sitting on his stomach. Bending over until she was directly in front of his face, she hovered there, whispering in a sultry voice, just loud enough for him to hear. _"Watashi ni kitsune."_  
  
At that, he inhaled sharply. He never knew what she was saying when she spoke in Japanese, and Kaoru's soft puffs of warm breath and body heat and weight were beginning to affect him in places he'd rather she didn't know about. He lifted her off, standing up and pulling her with him and also snatching up the bokken. "Why're you here, anyway?"  
  
"I just felt like visiting. C'mon, let's go home."  
  
Note: Kenshin's apartment is Kaoru's second home, and vice versa. They don't live together, or even have a definite romantic relationship. Yet.  
  
**_End Scene Two_**

Ok, I am putting in here my thanks to Ally Bama for the title. When I was asking for alternate title suggestions for _Sincerely, Untitled, Jerked Under _was one of her suggestions. Domo arigatou!

Yay! I'm back! x. Jesus... that was the best two weeks I've ever had. Besides when Isabel got to come down to the Outer Banks with my family last summer. I'm going back next year... and there were so many anime fans! SESSHA LOVES UVA WRITING CAMP!!!

Ja for now!

matthias208


	3. Hangover

_Start Scene Three: Hangover_

The small figure strolled down the moonlight street, seemingly completely at ease. Only someone who knew the person who was the figure better than he knew himself would be able to see the slightest stumbling of his feet, the effort it took to even walk as far as he had – small things that all pointed towards being drunk. Thankfully, he was headed towards the one person who would know these things, and what to do about them.

Kenshin at length made his way to a very familiar front step, painstakingly taking each stair one by one as his feet fought their defiance of gravity. At last reaching the faded, peeling blue door half-hidden behind a rusted screen, he knocked five times in rapid succession. He waited about a minute before Kaoru opened up, looking hassled and tired. Upon seeing who her visitor was, however, she immediately brightened up, grinning and rubbing her red eyes. "Hey, you're up late. Something wrong?"

He shook his head contentedly, knowing that his speech would be ridiculously slurred if he spoke. Kaoru noticed this and stared at him suspiciously, at last smelling the stench of alcohol faintly emanating from him. "Kenshin no baka..."

This time he nodded.

"I told you to at least try and stop."

Nod.

"Did you get into a fight?"

Nod.

"Before or after you got drunk?"

A hand gesture that might have meant 'before'.

She sighed, and the last still-lucid part of his brain winced, knowing that the real verbal beating would wait until the morning, when it hurt most. "Come in and take a shower, but be quiet, because Ayame and Suzume are sleeping over. I'll get some spare clothes." Kenshin was grabbed by the hand and gently tugged inside.

The sisters were sharing Kaoru's bed, having already been sound asleep for hours. He smiled briefly, gazing at them for a second – they were intelligent even for kids their age (thirteen and fourteen), and he enjoyed their company when they were around – and then entered the bathroom, operating the shower from memory alone. Also brushing his teeth (Kaoru always kept his toothbrush out), he stepped out of the bathroom twenty minutes later with naught on but a towel around his waist. The first things he saw were the sweat clothes that Kaoru threw at him. "Put these on, we're gonna have to share the couch bed."

He clothed himself back in the bathroom. Kaoru had already folded out the bed by the time he was done, and he did the best he could to help her spread the sheets and blanket in his state. Finished, they both simply collapsed, the old metal frame beneath them creaking dangerously with the sudden weight. They crawled towards each other, sleep now quickly taking over, and Kaoru placed herself along Kenshin's front, head under his chin as usual. He pulled the blanket up, tucking it around her shoulders and making sure she was warm. She did the same for him, hugging him tightly with her free arm. The lights were turned off, and as they drifted asleep, it was quite a peaceful night.

Ayame and Suzume woke at roughly the same time the next morning, the yawning and stretching of one rousing the other. They crept out of bed, morning sunshine filtered through the windows lightening the mood of the apartment. Suzume saw the living room first. She blinked in astonishment, then turned and tugged at her sister's sleeve to look also. Ayame giggled quietly, muffling it with her hand, but then sighed wistfully. The sisters were hopeless romantics, and Kenshin and Kaoru's relationship gave them constant fodder to nibble and speculate upon. Anything they saw as a step towards something less than platonic made then nearly jump for joy.

Sometime, somehow during the night, Kaoru had ended up lying on top of Kenshin. The exact position looked uncomfortable, but neither seemed to care all that much. Her right cheek was resting atop his left, arms, legs, and torsos tangled up together. Very awkward, but evidentially it was possible to sleep, although they would probably be sore when they woke up.

The sisters lived next door to Kaoru, and on nights that their parents were out late, they were sent to sleep at their neighbor's house. It was always a fun time, but they went back home as soon as they woke up, whether Kaoru was up and about or not. With one last, longing glace at the pair on the bed, they quietly crossed the room and exited through the front door.

Kaoru awoke first, wondering for a moment why she was not laying on her bed, but quickly remembered just who was serving as a pillow. Softly slipping off him, she gazed at Kenshin's sleeping face. He was only eighteen, and yet he still appeared years younger now than he did while awake. Maybe it was because he was so much more relaxed, not wary of someone attacking while his back was turned. Maybe his dreams were always good ones that freed him from the harsh reality of what his life had become. In any case, it made him seem like an innocent child. Kaoru sighed. Unfortunately, she would have to break this spell when he woke up with a hangover. She was duty-bound to give him a lecture while noise was what he feared most.

His eyes fluttered open as she watched, immediately closing again when the light streamed in his dilated pupils. He groaned and rolled over, shielding his eyes with his fists. "Mmmlllpfff..."

"Morning, sleepy." Kaoru stealthily raised a pillow above his head.

Kenshin turned, lifted his hands, saw her fully, and the pillow came crashing down. His cry of surprise was muffled by the light material, and he scrabbled around until he was able to remove it, his temples now pounding. Finally succeeding, he glared at her pathetically. "Kaoruuu... please take pity on me?"

"No."

She hit him again, this time on the stomach, which made him curl up defensively. "I'm gonna puke if you keep on doing that!"

"You deserve it! _I told you_ not to drink! It'll kill your liver, and I don't want to see you slowly degrade yourself to an alcoholic!"

"Owww, don't yell..."

"I am yelling," she said, raising her voice even more, "to get my point across. Repeat after me: NO MORE DRINKING!"

"My head..."

"SAY IT!"

"OW! That HURTS!"

"SAAAY IIIT!"

"NO MORE DRINKING!"

Kaoru immediately flopped down next to him. "Good. But I expect you to live up to that promise."

"'Kay."

They lay in silence for a bit, until Kenshin shifted uneasily. "Kaoru?"

"Yeah?"

"If I _do_ throw up, will you hold my head?"

Always the nausea, she thought, and moved off the bed. "I'll get Advil."

"Would you?"

She paused. "Of course. And I'd take care of you afterwards."

His voice carried something innocent and truthful in it when he closed his eyes, smiled, and said "I love you."

Kaoru reached for his hand, and upon receiving it, squeezed tenderly. Coming from her, it was the only response Kenshin needed.

_End Scene Three_

JuJuJuJuJuJuJuJuJuJuJuJuJuJuJuJuJ

Hii!!! I told you i had chapter three written, but I kept forgetting to post it. So, here you have it. Do you like it? I also have chapter four written now, so I'll put that up in a week. More fluff here... Sort of. I'm still trying to get back on schedule, and I will once I've finished the projects my World History teacher keeps dumping on us. Four is quite enough!

matthias208


	4. Reality

_Start Scene Four: Reality_

Kaoru cautiously opened the door to Kenshin's apartment, stunned as usual by its pristine condition, as he was a male. But he didn't need or want much, and his home could barely fit anything as it was. The entire area was made up of a miniscule living room, only big enough to fit a three-cushion couch and TV four feet away, a 'kitchen' consisting of a microwave, sink, and a cupboard as well as a bathroom tucked away behind it all. It was tiny enough to allow someone to wash their hands while sitting down. All in all, it took up less room than a mobile home. He had to take his showers at a nearby gym or her house, on the rare occasions he asked to do so.

His uncle Hiko paid for it all, the rent and bills. Pricing was cheap, however, and Hiko was rich; he ran a fencing school that many of the wealthier children and teenagers attended. Kenshin's barely existing expenses made no dent in his fortune. Kenshin did odd jobs to compensate for food and luxury pastimes, and that was the extent of what he needed to live, in the area of monetary matters.

She wasn't quite sure why she was here. It had been a random impulse, just a want of visiting her best friend. They saw each other almost everyday, never long enough to suffer from withdrawal. Yet, something was different now, at this moment. Whatever celestial force that always seemed to be watching over Kenshin and herself had compelled her to visit his apartment _right now_.

From what she could see, there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.

Stepping over a pile of neatly-folded laundry, Kaoru sank into the couch, contemplating what to do. He could be home at anytime before midnight. But she was here, and would wait until then of necessary.

The door suddenly sweeping open startled her out of the semi-reverie, and she stared in surprise at the large figure I the doorframe. It was Hiko, looking irritable as usual as he took off his coat. Seeing her, he made no movement of surprise but instead said, "Oh, you're here? Where's the runt?"

Her temper rose as it always did around him for the constant verbal abuse of his nephew. "Yes, I'm here. No, I don't know where he is." She answered curtly.

"Damn kid. I need to talk to him."

She stood, crossing her arms and trying to look down her nose at him, made difficult by the fact that he was much taller. "I'll take the message."

He glanced at her as he would a stranger in passing, then let his eyes roam around the single-room home in disgust. "Heh... Well, tell him that he can come back to my house if he wants to. I started thinking about it, and it would be for the best."

Kaoru's jaw fell for a moment before she snapped it back up. Kenshin had been living here for five years – since he was fourteen. He had been adamant in his decision never to go back to his uncle's.

"Why now?" The question popped out in the midst of her surprise.

Hiko fixed his perpetual glare on her again. "Because I promised his mother that I would take care of him if anything ever happened to her. Or my damn brother-in-law. The idiot made me angry and when I let him leave, that was going against the promise. I was deemed godfather, so those family ties are tugging at me."

"But it's so sudden..." The last time she was aware of Kenshin speaking to Hiko was at least eight months ago.

"So that's the way it is. Sono mama, Miss Kamiya."

She blinked in shock. "You know Japanese too?"

Hiko sighed at her, again in disgust. "We're living in the ruins of Japan. I made it a point to learn the language, even though we grew up with English. Our names are Japanese, Kaoru. They're the ones we know, so we use them. You were lucky enough to learn it from your parents. In the beginning, I was hoping I could teach him things that would help him become a leader and help get this world out of the state it's in. Look how he turned out. Do you ever speak to him in Japanese?"

"Short sentences every once in a while."

"But that's all."

"Hai."

A corner of his mouth twitched upwards wryly. They faced each other silently for a while, until Hiko spoke again. "You know what's going to happen to him eventually if he keeps on living the way he does. Maybe even if he does clean up his act. You'll be walking along to see him one day and then you'll find him on the ground, bleeding or already dead."

Her throat choked up; this image had played through her darkest thoughts once or twice when she had waited late for him, but she had never taken it seriously. He lived the most dangerous life, the lone Ishin Shishi, but he was a spectacular martial artist. She bit her lip and looked away.

"The people who did it might still be there, even. If they are they'll scatter when they see you. It might have been a simple killing, or he might still be barely alive after an hour of torture. Some of the kids are harsh enough. But you, girlie, will hold him and feel his life slip away, just like his mother and father. Except the people who killed his father went after her, too. And this is all true. You now it. He probably does, too."

Kaoru tried to muster up some strength against the vivid picture he had painted in front of her eyes. "He's a great fighter. They wouldn't be able to pin him down or anything."

"Everybody slips up eventually. Even I did once. It could be just a minor one on his part, but it could cost him his life."

She didn't want to hear this anymore, but Hiko kept on going. "Kaoru, I do care for the idiot, even though he'll most likely never know. I don't want him to die any more than you do, and I made a mistake when I let him leave. I threw him to the wolves because he made me angry and frustrated. I can't be an overprotective guardian now, but he does still need to be taken care of even though he's nineteen."

Slipping his coat back on, he turned to go back out, pausing one last time. "You don't have to tell him, if you don't want to. But think about it."

He left as abruptly as he'd come.

Kaoru sat down hard, not feeling steady enough to stand any longer. She felt as if she's eaten something spoiled. The sick sensation rose from the pit of her stomach to settle in her chest, eventually turning into a deep ache as she heard Hiko walking down the street outside. Sitting stock-still, she suddenly flung herself down on the cough, punching a limp cushion until a brief well of tears passed by without showing themselves. Now that she had allowed herself to see her best friend dead, the image wouldn't leave. Hugging the pillow she had abused, Kaoru thought she could smell some traces of him lingering on it, although faint. The scent comforted her a little, and she gradually fell asleep curled around her pillow.

She was awoken by Kenshin gently shaking her shoulder.

"Hey, are you okay? You were crying a little in your sleep."

Smiling now that he was finally home, Kaoru nodded. After the rest and knowing Kenshin was alive and well, the fear could disappear for now. He was so _vibrantly_ alive that it almost seemed as if what Hiko had said was complete folly. But he had seen much more of the world, and Kenshin's uncle was not the type to scare people that badly just for fun.

Just for this moment, at least, everything was good in the world as Kenshin asked her what had happened. Pulling him down to lie next to her, she knew the offer could wait.

Now was peace.

_End Scene Four_

I told you I would update in a week! For once, I kept my promise. Alas, my muse has gone to work on _Separate by Species_, so I won't be working on this for a while. However, I WILL NOT be scrapping it on any account! I like it to much for that. I do have ideas, though, but still tell me what you'd like to see since now you know what this story's like! Please RR!!!

P.S. Still a short chapter, I know. I'll try to work on it (I write these in a notebook, so the length can get confused. I mean, 15 pages in college lined paper equals 8 pages in size 12 font!)


End file.
